If your girls were a little bit bigger I would recommend the Honda 90. I purchased one for my son about a year ago and it can haul me up and down most of the dirt roads around here (I'm 190 lbs).

Because your girls are a bit younger than what I would consider ideal for a Honda 90, I would recommend getting something with an automatic transmission. I've got a 7-year-old son who's had a hard time learning the concept of shifting (how to control the gas, letting off the gas while shifting, keeping track of what gear he's in, down shifting to climb hills/go around tight corners, etc.), not to mention the physical difficulty of using the foot shifter... it does require a certain amount of foot strength in order to shift and your girls might have to grow a bit before they have the physical ability to use a shifter.

As far as your 4 and 3 year old go, it might be wise to let them mature a little before sending them off on their own down a trail or dune. I think sometimes adults forget that most younger kids haven't mentally developed sufficently to employ effective reasoning skills/common sense/good judgement necessary to ride an atv safely (neither have many adults!). A lot of kids think they're invincible and attempt to climb hills that they probably shouldn't... and try to take corners faster than they should. My kid was in for a real surprise yesterday when he tried to climb a semi-steep hill and only made it 3/4 the way up before he ran out of power. It was a long, painful, fast, backwards decent for him.

Good luck with your decision.

 

A couple of KEY things I wanted to restate!
1. SUpervision, you need to be with these children when they ride

2. Training, they need to be taught the PROPER way to ride these

3. Equipment, there is never overkill when outfitting a child!!! Helmet, chest protector, neck roll, gloves goglesand proper clothing are all a must!!!

ATVing can and is a wonderful way to spend time with your kids but safety is always most important!! This does not meen limiting a child to a quad that is too small for him(her) you need to get the right fit! It also means not getting one too big as stated before.

Chris

 

I agree with ISTOK...I think that just like in any sport, you will find that some kids that excell at learning the basics, while others take longer to figure out how to work the shifter, gas and brakes. My soon to be 9 year old is a thinker. You can see it in his riding, he has the mechanics down, but you can see him think his way through each step... which takes time....I hope that with practice, it becomes a natural deal that he no longer has to think his way through it, it will just happen. It is scary when he comes up to a corner or a steep downhill and you can see the gears working in his mind. I have to yell at him several times to brake brake brake before it registers with him that he needs to slow down... sometimes it is too late. The other times he forgets which way to lean... I try to teach him how to move his not so draggin butt around on the seat so he can use his weight to maintain his balance.. but he gets it wrong sometimes, and then it is two wheel city, mom passes out, and I am torn between watching him and catching her.... (gee, I guess I have to think my way through some things too... and I run out of time.. Ouch sorry dearie, what a nasty fall all in a lump) any way, so far he has managed to keep the tires on the ground, and only put his foot out one time... He is a thinker and very methodical in his approach to anything.

As for the gear shift deal. I have managed to get him to shift one time, and he never downshifted after that... all the rest of the time, he spends in first gear, and for now, that is enough for him and about all he can handle. I do wish the brakes were a bit easier to pull... but Yamaha has done a wonderful job in building a machine that stops on it's own if they don't get on the gas. So that has saved him on many occasions.

For those that think that kids should not ride, all I can say is try it and see. ATV riding is addictive, and one of the best forms of FAMILY interaction. Baseball, Soccer, Basketball etc, all for the most part are Spectator sports, where mom and dad get to watch their kids play... ATV riding on the other hand is one sport that a parent gets to participate right along side if they wish. and that is exactly where you should be at all times when they are young. Outside of fishing, I can't think of another "Sport" that lets you bond with your kids any more than you can on the back of an ATV. Even the act of washing the machine can be a quality time experience... It sure beats the heck out of our kids becoming couch potatoes like me....

Dragginbutt says cheers for now... and give your kids a hug today...

 

I think the reason WhoDatInTheMud's got his panties in a bit of a twist is cuz HIS kids are 10 or 11 and still not mature enough to ride.....

My kids started on a Polaris 90 at 7yrs...They rode go-carts at 5yrs ...They always ride with all there gear because thats the way they have to ride! Zak is 9 now and has been riding every where I go with my 500 and we look for the off trail steep and ruff stuff....he luvs it and I cant wait to get him a 4x4 quad that will have some more ground clearance.....But he needs about another 40lbs I think..LOL

Ragged

 

hey Ragged, your picture is cool
cool; you musta been up here visiting one of us canuckleheads, riding the Canadian version of the atv[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Bigger the better. Least a 100. 3 or 4 is plenty old.

Quads make great babysitters!

 

Now now.. lets be civilized... those of you that know me, know that I am an advocate for the family experience, and the joys of spending time WITH your kids, not watching them. ATV riding provides the adult/child interaction seldom found in today's competition centered environment. Like fishing, it gives you a chance to teach and enjoy something with your kids that doesn't have to use winning or losing as the yardstick to measure their success or failure.

That is something that I don't like about stick and ball sports, where winning is everything, and losing sucks. Just getting out of the house, off the couch and out in the netherworld we call "NATURE" can open many new and exciting ways to enjoy life. Sure there is some danger in it, there are dangers every day when you eat a meal. Think about this statistic, there are more people that die from choking on their food than those that die from ATV accidents. It sort of takes away the nay sayer's argument doesn't it?

Put the best equipment money can buy on your child, make them wear it religously, supervise their riding, get out there and ride beside them, show them that for once in their life, they are equals, and don't forget to sit back and smile once in a while as you watch them grow in confidence and skill. There will be bumps and bruises along the way... Hey, kids find ways to pinch fingers in doors too, so nothing is safe.

I know I'll catch heck for this, but I will caution that as a parent, you not get caught up in the competition deal until they are at a point where they need a different measure. For now, let them ride and enjoy the experience at their skill level. As they get seat time, they will get better, and need other measures. But starting out, just teach them to be safe and to enjoy it. Don't burdon them with the "I got to win, win, win" complex that is everywhere else.

As people that share a common experience of ATV riding, we are a special group that are extremely lucky that we can enjoy something that few get to do... The kids get enough pressure in life already... let them just be themselves and take time to smell the roses.

 

Sorry, I was just trying to get a rise out of Whodat!

OK, OK, OK! Civil? HMMmmm. Alright let's try this, I would put a 3 or 4 year old on a Fisher Price quad. The 7 year old can easily ride a 70cc or larger with proper supervision. A 50cc will NOT handle sand dunes without mods. But then again, I haven't talked too anyone yet that was real thrilled with a stock mini's performance in sand. I've got a 45lb kid on a 100 and it struggles. Sand robs power big time! So I guess I really did mean when I said the bigger the better. But let the little ones watch from a safe distance.

Better?

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

i started out at three years old and was on a hond 90 .i would buy them an e-ton mostly because they have a remote shutoff switch there automatic some of them anyways and there electric start and resonably cheep

 

All this stuff about saftey and how old is old enough? really is anything safe I mean just walking isn't so safe. about a 2-3 years ago I was walking down to my mailbox when my foot went into like a mole tunnel (or something like that, and no it wasn't from stupidity you just couldn't see it) and I tore the muscle and broke the bone I was 12. when my older sister was about 13-14 she was skating and fell. It broke her pinky finger (she needed 9 stitches for the cause it sliced the finger open) and her wrist in three different places.and when my younger sister was about 6 or 7 she fell down some steps in a bowling alley ( only about two or three steps not many) that didn't hurt her what hurt her was the bowling ball she wacked her head off of at the bottom of the stairs she needed 14 stitches in her jaw. so with this n mind can we honestly say anything is safe. I mean what can kids not skate they do have skating accident do they not. will children not be allowed in bowling alleys.

I'm 15 and have had my ATV for 4 months (not one accident not even a close call thank god) now the ATV recomended for my age (12 or older) is 90cc or less. I'm 5'11" almost 6' my shoe size is a men's 13 1/2 wide and sometimes 14 wide ( depends on the company making it) now how in the world do they plan on me fitting on a 90cc the seat doesn't even come a full 3 ft off of the ground.
so what I'm saying is that you have to take mentality and size into factor before you go out and buy one. A 3yr. old might be a bit uncomprehensible to the dangers of riding an ATV. Now I'm not saying she is dumb; all three year olds are gonnna be like that. but as for the 4 and 7 year old I would look into a small quad for the 7 yr old and maybe a 50cc-90cc for the 4 yr old.

Now don't get me wrong I have nothing wrong with (for lack of a better term) underage riding; hell I'm an underaged rider myself (only a year but still underaged)you just have to think very carefully about what you want for your kids